It does everything a basic AM FM radio should, and it does it pretty darn well. Reception is excellent and pulls in signals clearly, which is especially appreciated in my challenging mountain surrounded valley. Only a few of my radios do as well rejecting multipath signals. To me, that means it has good quality circuitry and will function well in the city too, where radio waves tend to bounce of big buildings. It sounds good too. My wife will order smaller tinny sounding radios off, or for me to put on headphones complaining my cheap radios bother her sensitive ears. This one I can play without complaint. Thus, for me, at this time, I hereby declare that this is not a cheap, small or low quality radio. Perhaps it is the size that gives it its good sound. It is slightly larger than the common deck of card size pocket radio. It will fit into a shirt pocket, but only barely, leaving no room for even a ball point pen. So technically this is a pocket radio you will choose not to put in your pocket...but it does sound good.Some reviewers complain about the quality of the plastic. Not me. The manufacturer praises their smooth finish and no sharp edges. Well, almost. To me it is just fine except for one thing, the small prong that holds the antenna in place is very sharp and appears fragile and unlikely to last long. Really, no reason the antenna secure has to be so small or sharp. I hope the antenna will stay secure if and when it finally breaks off. With the antenna up I gave this radio for my wife to admire and she, as did I, immediately prick a hand on that sharp prong. Go one, give it a try, I double dog dare you. The manufacturer does too considering the wordy and lengthy praise they bestow upon themselves for the smooth finish and especially "no complex external structure and sharp edges and corners". Well, wrong there. Test it yourself...put the antenna up and hold the radio....ouch.This radio has a nice clock. It is on when the radio is off. I like that. The time display is very large and very easy to read. Nice. It has a lighted dial that stays on for about 4 seconds. OK for me. Nice wide easy to adjust volume dial on the side. Functionally, it is fine and easy for nearly all to use, old and young. It is pretty intuitive and I figured out all functions without reading the manual.I wish it had a tuning light to confirm the station is perfectly set, but the only red small LED light is saved for the lock function only. The lock is a small switch on the side of the radio that freezes all functions but volume. The small red light will remind you the system is locked if you try to change stations or turn the radio on or off with the lock switch activated. OK. I guess this feature would be handy for those who travel and this is a fine travel radio in my opinion. OK, on second thought, maybe not the perfect travel radio. Though it does have a clock and sleep countdown timer, it does not have an alarm clock function.Still, I did keep this radio because, mainly, I collect radios that I like or are different, magical, functional or a great value, or just plain give me pleasure to own. This one ticks more than a few of these boxes. This is also, I think, my first brown radio. It is solid and sounds good. The clock has been dead on accurate for this first month I have owned it. It sounds good, picks up my stations night and day and stands solidly up or on its side. I am pleased with battery life and happy it uses 3 AA batteries as I have plenty of rechargeables. It sounds good with headphones. No hiss or bothersome noise. It does not have FM stereo but it sounds good in both ears out the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.I do like the pre-set stations and the clock's time remains secure during battery changes due to the separate battery that backs these up. The small disc battery performing this function is the same type that powers my computer's inner clock and those last at least 10 years in my experience. So I am happy this radio has that...no other radio of this type I own does this. So, that's one more reason I kept this radio. I rate it four stars taking one off for the sharp prong on the side of the radio. But put another star on because I like the clock. For the money....a good solid, good sounding portable (almost maybe) pocket sized radio.